Chapter 31 Follow-up (2) "Dazai-kun." ...

"Dazai-kun".

Ango Sakaguchi sighed, "If there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

Ango Sakaguchi was suddenly called out by the other party, and the two sat in the Whirlpool Cafe for a full half hour, but Dazai Osamu did not say anything important to him except drink coffee, admire the scenery outside, and chat with the cafe waitress.

He even took time out of his precious rest period to meet with the other party!

"Don't be in such a hurry, Ango." Dazai Osamu said with a smile, casually stirring the coffee in his cup. "As for Takeichi, those big shots up there have their eyes on him too, right?"

Ango Sakaguchi paused almost imperceptibly. He knew what Dazai Osamu was talking about: after the "human head balloon" incident came to an end, those dirty secrets were exposed to the public, and some of the officials and high-ranking people involved used scapegoats to shirk responsibility.

The Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia became thorns in their side.

The strange tales in the rift, the rumors spreading that the Armed Detective Agency has become suspicious, all have their own connections besides the demons.

“He was targeted from the very beginning.” Ango Sakaguchi pushed up his glasses, a hint of weariness barely perceptible in his voice. “From the very first time he cooperated with the Special Abilities Division, someone tried to assess and control him, attempting to take the ghost stories under their control.”

He paused, his tone laced with sarcasm: "After all, for some high-ranking but ordinary people, the existence of superpowers is a threat, especially for powerful superpowered individuals."

"When they learned that ghost stories could erase the traces of those events and eliminate threatening forces, the temptation was too great. If they could grasp and control them, many worries would disappear."

“However,” Ango Sakaguchi changed the subject, “given the existence of that gentleman and his proposed Three-Quarter Plan, they dare not act too openly for the time being.”

"I think you've seen all of this. And you know who's behind Takeichi-kun."

Dazai Osamu smiled slightly, took a sip of coffee, and did not deny what Sakaguchi Ango said.

Ango Sakaguchi was silent for a moment, seemingly organizing his thoughts. He raised his head and looked directly at Osamu Dazai: "You seem to have been actively contacting Takeichi lately. Why? During the Rift Ghost Story incident, you even had me deliberately spread false information about your presence to mislead Chuuya. Are you so sure Takeichi has a backup plan to control him in his corrupted state? Or is it..."

Ango Sakaguchi leaned forward slightly, his gaze suspicious: "You knew all along, or suspected, that Takeichi possessed [No Longer Human]?"

“No, you never do anything you’re not sure about.” Sakaguchi Ango looked at Dazai Osamu with certainty and said, “So you knew all along…”

This was the biggest question lingering in Ango Sakaguchi's mind, but he wasn't sure.

Many of Dazai Osamu's actions were intricately linked and not simple.

Dazai Osamu did not answer Sakaguchi Ango's question immediately. He just looked at the hurried passers-by outside the window. After a while, he slowly opened his mouth and answered irrelevantly: "Sakaguchi Ango, what kind of person do you think Takeichi-kun is?"

Ango Sakaguchi frowned: "Based on the current assessment, the individual possesses special methods or expertise to guide responses to ghost stories. They are occasionally lazy but reliable in critical moments. The newly added extremely rare nullification ability has raised the risk level to the highest monitoring level."

“You must have investigated his background,” Dazai Osamu said with a hint of amusement.

"..."

Ango Sakaguchi sighed, rubbing his temples with a headache: "We've investigated. The other party disappeared for decades, leaving a blank period, and then suddenly reappeared out of nowhere."

“Yes—appearing out of thin air.” Dazai Osamu repeated, drawing out his words with a hint of nonchalance. His deep, unfathomable eyes revealed no emotion. “Possessing a power system we cannot comprehend…and then the same superpower appears. These coincidences. Ango, don’t you find this interesting? This is beyond the scope of our current understanding of superpower systems.”

He turned his head, his gaze returning to Ango Sakaguchi: "I approached him, naturally, because he himself is a huge, walking enigma. As for whether I knew he had 'No Longer Human'..."

Dazai Osamu shrugged: "It was just a guess and a gamble based on his unconventional characteristics. I just felt that he might be able to create some kind of miracle. Of course, I knew he had a backup plan, but I didn't expect it to be such a surprise."

This explanation is half true and half false, consistent with Dazai Osamu's usual style.

Ango Sakaguchi couldn't completely trust it, but he couldn't find any loopholes either.

"So now you've got the answer to your gamble: someone with the exact same ability as you has appeared." Ango Sakaguchi stared at him. "How do you feel? A sense of crisis? Or... a sense of belonging?"

He keenly noticed that when Dazai Osamu mentioned Takeichi, he occasionally revealed an unusual inquisitiveness and a subtle, indescribable emotion.

Dazai Osamu's smile faded slightly. He looked at the liquid in the glass, and the image of him arriving at 307 and seeing Takeichi using his special ability flashed through his mind. Fragments of someone's memory flashed before his eyes.

"Dazai?" Sakaguchi Ango asked hesitantly when the other party did not respond to him for a long time.

Dazai Osamu suddenly reverted to his usual unreliable demeanor, as if he had just been imagining things with Sakaguchi Ango.

"It's probably interesting." Dazai Osamu vaguely skipped over the topic, waving his hand: "Anyway, the current situation is that Takeichi is like a fragrant cake, attracting flies from all sides."

“We need to talk about cooperation, Ango.”

Dazai Osamu's tone became slightly more serious, losing his usual nonchalance: "Not for any organization, but for the fragile balance in Yokohama right now, and also to... prevent that interesting Takeichi from being torn apart by these troubles too quickly."

He paused, a faint smile playing on his lips: "After all, having two copies of [No Longer Human] is quite useful, isn't it?"

Ango Sakaguchi remained silent; he knew that Osamu Dazai was right.

Zhu Yi's existence has become the eye of a storm; if not handled properly, it could trigger a turmoil even more terrifying than the ghost stories.

Sharing intelligence and coordinating actions with Dazai Osamu, or rather with the Armed Detective Agency, at a certain level seems to be the best option at present.

“…I will share some non-core intelligence as appropriate.” After a long silence, Ango Sakaguchi finally spoke, this was the biggest concession he could make: “But the premise is that the Armed Detective Agency, especially you, Osamu Dazai, cannot act on your own.”

"Don't worry, don't worry~ I'm the most law-abiding!" Dazai Osamu smiled innocently.

Ango Sakaguchi expressed deep skepticism about this.

The two exchanged a few more words in hushed tones, sharing information about recent developments and some figures requiring attention. Then, Ango Sakaguchi was the first to rise and leave; he had many reports to write and many matters to attend to.

Dazai Osamu sat alone by the window, ordered another cup of coffee, and looked out the window.

His smile gradually faded, and deep thought appeared in his iris-colored eyes.

"Ye Zang..." he murmured, repeating the name that Zhu Yi had unconsciously uttered when he was unconscious. This name brought him inexplicable ripples from the depths of his soul, which he himself could not fully understand.

It wasn't just curiosity about the name; it was also mixed with an almost instinctive and dark sense of resonance, as if through Takeichi, he glimpsed a shadow that was similar to yet completely different from the depths of his own soul.

The occasional sense of emptiness and inhumanity that Zhu Yi revealed after waking up, as if detached from the world, further deepened this eerie feeling of déjà vu.

It's like a kind of weariness and confusion after a long period of time, subtly overlapping with one's own state at certain moments.

“No Longer Human…” Dazai Osamu lowered his eyes, looking at his blurry reflection in the cup.

This superpower, which he once thought was unique and destined to be a curse, has now found a second bearer, and this is no coincidence.

All of this has become shrouded in mystery.

Dazai Osamu pondered the information provided by Ango, his brain racing as he tried to connect the dots.

He felt as if he were standing on the edge of a huge mystery.

And Takeichi may be the key to solving this mystery.

What exactly did Takeichi dream about?

What is the connection between No Longer Human and Takeichi?

Where was the other person during all these years of disappearance, and why did they suddenly reappear?

These questions, like sparks, instantly ignited the almost dangerous curiosity within Dazai Osamu. He had always had an almost obsessive fascination with mysteries, especially such an intriguing one, one that concerned someone as unique as Takeichi.

"Ah, I really want to know." Dazai Osamu looked troubled.

Then, he took out his phone from his pocket, tapped the cold screen with his finger, and the moment the screen lit up, he brought up Zhu Yi's contact information.

Perhaps it's time for some more direct communication and probing!

However, the moment he pressed the dial button, instead of the familiar waiting tone, a cold, mechanical voice answered. Dazai Osamu realized he had been blocked...

Dazai Osamu stared blankly at his phone for three seconds, his finger still hovering over the redial button, looking like a black cat caught in the rain who had suddenly missed a window.

He tilted his head at the screen, his tone full of disbelief and grievance: "Hey—Zhu Yi-kun actually blocked me? He was just smiling and listening to me talk about my new drowning plan last time."

Undeterred, he opened his contacts, hesitated for two seconds on Kunikida Doppo's name, and then quickly swiped away—if Kunikida saw that he had been blocked by Takeichi, he would probably nag him, and might even write down "Dazai Osamu's stupid act today" in his notebook.

It's best to forget about contacting Kunikida or Takeichi-kun.

I'll visit you in person when I have time.